We drove back to Maple Street at midnight in absolute silence.
In the kitchen, the cruise tickets sat on the counter under the dim microwave light.
Down the hall, Arthur sat in the dark living room, the low sound of his weeping muffled by the heavy drapes.
By seven the next morning, the kitchen smelled of stale coffee and damp wool from our coats hanging by the door.
My mother, Peggy, stood by the stove, her fingers moving in a steady rhythm as she patted her silver hair. She poured a stream of hot water into the ceramic pot, her face clouded by the rising steam.
“You have to cancel that boat, Sandra,” she said, her voice dropping to a whisper as if the walls themselves were listening.
I sat at the table with my phone in my hand, staring at the digital itinerary for the Majesty of the Seas. The blue ocean on the screen looked too bright, almost offensive in the gray light of our kitchen.
“The deposit was forty-two hundred dollars, Mother,” I said, clearing my throat before speaking softly. “We cannot just throw forty-two hundred dollars into the wind.”
Peggy set the kettle down on the cold burner with a sharp clatter. She reached across the table and picked up our yellow joint savings bank book, flipping it open to the page where the bank teller had stamped our daily withdrawal limit.
“A fool and his money are soon parted, Sandra, but some losses you just have to carry,” she said, tapping the paper with her fingernail.
She did not wait for me to answer before she walked out toward the hallway, her slippers dragging against the linoleum.
By ten, the autumn sun had barely managed to pierce the heavy clouds over Maple Street.
Arthur stood by the front living room window, his shoulder turned toward the room as he watched a gray mail truck crawl down the block. He had not changed out of his work trousers from the night before, and his flannel shirt looked loose around his neck.
I held the printed copy of our cruise itinerary in both hands, twisting my silver wedding band around my finger until the skin turned red. The paper felt heavy, like a summons.
